Temporal effects of information systems on business processes: focusing on the dimensions of temporality

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Abstract

This study investigates how information systems affect the temporality of business processes in organizations. It is first described how the dimensions of temporality were developed. Among the many dimensions based on other studies, eleven dimensions were selected for our purposes in investigating the external temporality in the first instance and tracing changes in temporality. We then identified six dimensions (duration, sequence, temporal location, deadline, cycle and rhythm) which could effectively assess the temporal effects of information systems. We used them to describe and analyse temporal changes which resulted from the implementation of Korea Trade Network in two case companies. Through the case study, this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of information systems and temporality in organizational contexts. Differential cycles, polychronicity and changes in inter-personal or inter-departmental relations mediated by temporal shifts are presented for their implications on time, work and information systems.

Introduction

Information technology speeds up business processes and can save a lot of time in organizations. However, little other than speeding-up and time-saving is known about what is taking place between2–11 information technology and the temporal performance. The current understanding of the relationship looks mundane. This paper attempts to investigate temporal changes in business processes that are caused by information systems. We understand that speeding-up and time-saving are essential in analysing the temporal changes. However, we suppose that there are other aspects that are also important in describing temporal profiles of business processes, particularly in understanding temporal transformations by information systems. We also expect that knowledge of these aspects will help understand the very mechanism through which information technology increases the speed of business processes and reduces the time required to complete them.

While there is some research about time in organizations (Bluedorn & Denhardt, 1988, Clark, 1985, Das, 1990, Hassard, 1989, Hassard, 1996, Kavanagh & Araujo, 1995, McGrath & Rotchford, 1983), studies focusing on the relationship between time and information technology are few in either information systems research or in organization theory. Barley (1988) investigated the impacts of computer-based radiology equipment on temporality and social relations in hospital radiology departments. Influenced by Hall, 1959, Hall, 1966, Hall, 1983, he employed a dichotomy of ways of organizing time: monochronic and polychronic ways. In the former, people do one thing at a time while in the latter several things are done at once. Barley found that the new computer-based equipment increased the monochronicity of radiologists' work by restructuring the duration, sequence, temporal location and rate of recurrence of events (these temporal dimensions will be explained later). It also led to the symmetry of temporal organization between radiologists' and technicians' work. Furthermore, the increased symmetry contributed to a decreased conflict between radiologists and technicians.

According to the imaginative analysis of Failla and Bagnara (1992), information technology causes profound changes in the time-frame patterns of the decision-making process. It also eliminates rigidity in work rhythms, giving flexibility. The organization of work is increasingly becoming less rigid in terms of time-patterns. This is especially true of professional work performed in offices with information technology supports. They “help to eliminate or diminish the importance of time-frames generally accepted as appropriate for performing a given activity” (p. 678). Furthermore, they distinguish different types of information technology by the stage of its development and differentiate its impacts on temporality; the impacts of information technology on time assume different patterns depending on the stages in the development of information technology. Three main stages of information technology, that is, the automation of routine activities by mainframe computers, decision support technologies by personal computers and the recent development of virtual reality technologies, have different meanings in terms of time. Other studies (Sahay, 1997, Sahay, 1998) also deal with time and space, but they do not view time as changeable (Lee & Liebenau, 1999) and do not seem to ask how information technology affects time.

This paper begins by introducing the temporal dimensions that we developed to describe and analyse temporal changes at work. Then it examines how an information system affects temporal aspects of business processes in a particular case. Through the case study we aim to provide a deeper understanding of the issue in organizational contexts. Thereby, we try to explore implications of the temporal changes by information systems for work, systems developement and social relations among workers and work groups.

Section snippets

Temporal dimensions of business processes

To investigate how information technology affects temporality in organizational work, we first need to know what constitutes temporality. In other words, for analytical purposes, it is necessary to devise a set of variables which help to understand various aspects of temporality. We call these “the dimensions of temporality”. Schriber (1986, 1987 with Gutek) and Zerubavel (1981), Schriber & Gutek (1987) and Zerubavel (1981) examined temporal aspects of social organization in the work place and,

The cases studied

Case studies were conducted in two Korean trading companies which participated in the trade automation project KTNET (Korea Trade Network), an EDI application. KTNET was chosen because we expected that we could easily trace and contrast old and new ways of work; it had substantially changed trading procedures in the companies just before the fieldwork started. The field sites were the departments which used KTNET at hand to do export business. Of the export work, four domains to which KTNET had

Changes in the temporal dimensions

In the last section, we have described how KTNET, an EDI application, changed procedures in two domains of export work. Now we will focus on the six temporal dimensions. Table 4 summarizes the changes in the dimensions across the four domains examined. In the table, (+) signifies a remarkable change and ( ) signifies no change. In describing the changes in each temporal dimension, we not only draw on local L/C and negotiation, but, when necessary, we also use the other two domains that are not

Temporality, work and social relations

We have described the changes in the temporal dimensions since the implementation of a new information system in the case study sites. One of the motivations from which this study stemmed is that their effects are not limited to temporal changes themselves in business processes. They may have extended implications for the organization that has adopted the new system. During the fieldwork, we found several points worth noting for their implications for work and social relations.

First, we have

Conclusions

Time has not been explored well enough in information systems research or in management studies, considering its fundamental importance in organizations and society. When it comes to a particular question which this paper has addressed, that is, how information technology affects temporality, the simplistic answer is usually given that information technology has accelerated the speed of work at an enormous rate and saved organizations a great amount of time. The motivation of this paper was to

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